The present invention relates to a drum lug for tensioning and supporting a drum head and, more particularly, to a drum lug which is designed to improve operability upon detachment thereof and durability of a lug nut.
A conventional head tension lug used for percussion such as a drum has an arrangement shown in FIG. 3. More specifically, reference numeral 1 denotes a drum body. A plurality (e.g., 6 to 10) of lug cases 2 are fastened to the outer surface of the drum body 1 with threads. A lug nut 4 whose one end is exposed from a through hole 3 formed in each lug case 2 and a spring 5 for biasing the lug nut 4 in a direction to extend outward are housed in the lug case 2. A lug is constituted by these components. The lug nut 4 is formed into a cylindrical shape, and a collar 4a for preventing slipping off of the lug nut 4 is integrally formed therewith. A threaded hole 7 in which a lug bolt 6 is screwed is formed at the center of the lug nut 4.
A drum head 10 whose peripheral portion is supported by a head frame 9 is tensioned at an opening end 8 of the drum body 1. A clamp frame 11 formed around the periphery of the drum head 10 and the lug nut 4 are coupled to each other with the lug bolt 6. The clamp frame 11 is urged against the head frame 9 by a clamping operation of the bolt 6, thereby providing a predetermined tension to the drum head 10.
The threaded hole 7 of the lug nut 4 of this conventional type is formed along the entire length of the nut 4, and is open at external end faces 12a and 12b. With this arrangement, when the lug bolt 6 is loosened by a tuning key upon replacement of the drum head 10 and is pulled out from the threaded hole 7, the lug nut 4 and the lug bolt 6 are completely separated from each other. As a result, the lug bolt 6 tends to totter and move in the axial direction, and the tuning key is easily slipped off from the head of the lug bolt 6. In contrast to this, when a new drum head 10 is to be tensioned on the drum body 1 by screwing the lug bolt 6 into the threaded hole 7 of the lug nut 4, if the axes of the lug bolt 6 and the threaded hole 7 are not aligned with each other and the lug bolt 6 is forcibly screwed into the threaded hole 7 at an improper angle, seizing of the threads may occur or the thread ridges may be flattened. Therefore, in order to prevent such a situation, it is preferable that the lug bolt 6 is manually aligned with and slightly screwed into the threaded hole 7 of the lug nut 4 in advance, and is then fastened by the tuning key. Such an operation is time-consuming and cumbersome, and hence is not frequently performed in practice. Therefore, the service life of the lug nut 4 is inevitably shortened.